Hollywood studios warn staff not to bet on prediction markets, report says
Staff told not to bet on studio events
Hollywood studios and production companies have quietly issued guidelines that bar employees from betting on prediction markets using insider knowledge, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
The rules cover events such as studio earnings, casting decisions and release dates. Staff are also told not to pass information to friends or family so they can bet instead.
The report says the parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, Penske Media, updated its employee handbook in recent weeks to ban bets on award nominations, casting decisions, production timelines and release dates. At least one company has set up an anonymous hotline for employees to report colleagues suspected of placing bets.
What the new rules cover
- Bets on casting, release dates and earnings using non-public information
- Passing information to friends and family to bet on their behalf
- At Penske Media, bets on award nominations, casting decisions, production timelines and release dates
- An anonymous hotline at at least one company to report suspected bets
Extending stock insider trading rules to betting platforms
The rules extend long-standing bans on insider trading in the stock market to platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Those platforms let users place bets on events, from who will be cast as the next James Bond to who will be voted off a reality show.
Joshua Mitts, a law professor at Columbia University who studies prediction markets, told The Hollywood Reporter that there is now an explosion in the number of employers who must think about insider trading rules from an ethical standpoint.
Why tracing bets on blockchain platforms can be hard
Mitts said enforcement may be difficult. He said that with blockchain-based trading, a shared digital record system used by many crypto platforms, tracing can be basically impossible if a person knows how to use a mixer correctly and hide their identity behind multiple layers of intermediation.
Some bookmakers are already cautious. Betting site BetOnline temporarily pulled its market on the next James Bond this week after a sudden wave of sharp money pushed actor Callum Turner above longtime favourite Jack Lowden, raising concerns about a leak, the report said.
Earlier cases linked to prediction markets
In February, Kalshi said a video editor at MrBeast's company had made about $5,000 using confidential information to bet on MrBeast content. The editor was fired and fined $20,000, the report said.
Federal prosecutors have also brought cases. In April, an active-duty U.S. soldier was charged with using classified information about the raid to capture Nicolás Maduro to bet on Polymarket. In May, a Google engineer was charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering over Polymarket bets allegedly placed using confidential company data. Both cases are pending.
California, New York and Illinois have banned state employees from using non-public information to bet on prediction markets. Polymarket has investigated dozens of bets on the U.S. midterm elections, the report said.
Why this matters for entertainment staff
The bans show that employers are treating prediction market bets like insider trading in stocks when they rely on non-public information. The report also noted that U.S. law under the Onion Futures Act of 1958 already bans futures contracts on onions and on movie box office receipts.
Source for this report
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.